Traction control and launch control (beyond the start device)? I don't think so. There are no wheel speed sensors on the bikes, so how would they be controlling these systems? Data logging? Maybe to a limited extent, but there are no suspension sensors or wheel speed sensors so what are thay logging? Track position and video overlay, yes.

They sort of have it and you can do it without suspension and wheel speed sensors. Kawasaki has a system on their stock 450's that retards the ignition in the lower gears when setup to remove power for easier launches. Not sure if they use it or not in SX.
But from a technology standpoint if it is legal it is not hard to design a fuel/ignition system that retards timing when it senses the bike revving too fast. It could only really be used for starts on an MX bike, but on roadracing it could be used for the entire track. Rudimentary compared to a system with sensors, but the technology exists.

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"Remember that an enduro tests the endurance of three things: your machine, your body, and your wits. Only one has to fail to keep you from reaching the finish line." Cycle World March 1966

Think back to Daytona SX from this year. They had that jump at the end of the straight that almost made them stop and roll over it. Those that jumped it went very high and very far but air time seemed to show rolling it was the quicker choice. Stewart jumped it among others and there is a picture of him from the track looking at the people on the tracks edge. He's WAY up in the air and there is probably a dozen people with their mouths literally wide open as in . Just an awesome shot it's poster material. Awesome awesome awesome.

There is also another neat picture in the GATE PICS section which are always 2 full pages of 1 pic. The Detroit SX had a 12 inch drop off right off the start which I didn't see as I didn't see the Detroit round. Very cool.

There is also an article on the Thailand round of the GP circuit. I believe it is this years round. There is a jump on that track that involves a 120 foot leap and due to problems with the race gas provided at the event most of the bikes were running poorly, hesitating, etc. Tommy Searle came up short on that jump and snapped his 52 mm WP forks. Broke them right off leaving the springs hanging.

Your passionate about the sport..thats what keeps us watching, racing and expressing our opinions. I don't always agree with you but appreciate you
posting your experiences and thoughts. Keeps me thinking.

Your passionate about the sport..thats what keeps us watching, racing and expressing our opinions. I don't always agree with you but appreciate you
posting your experiences and thoughts. Keeps me thinking.

Oh..and thanks for the great pics.

thanks for that it's appreciated. I think having ridden extensively in the 70's offers a unique perspective of the sport post Y2K. And it's still getting better. These riders in many ways know not what they do, meaning, if you took a decent B rider from today and took a top pro from 1975 and like in the Olympics on the downhill where they take 2 skiers runs and mate the video side by side so you can see who was faster through a section, you'd see the B rider buzzing along and you'd see the 70's rider pull over and on the big modern doubles and triples.

or something like that. maybe not but trust me modern bikes have enabled these riders to develop skills that weren't thought possible not to long ago. Amazing things happen on these tracks.

Some of these mini riders.

Navin is going to get me a ride on a 2009 YZ 250 his son rides. I just hope someone can get a picture of me should I be able to still get it up.

The front wheel...

I actually used to wheelie pretty good. I had a 250 CanAm I could wheelie until I ran out of real estate.

Todays riders are amazing for sure.
However, the guys that were riding before long travel suspension came in the mid 70's still astound me, the things they did with maximum of 4" travel on either end were crazy. I remember standing right beside a landing spot at the Conroe, TX Trans-AM (or whatever it was called that year) and feeling the ground shake when the Europeans landed, then there was a huge oak tree right outside one of the normal corners on that track, they pushed the berm right up to the base of it and then they were actually using the tree to bounce off of in that turn. And then it started raining and they seemed to just speed up.

Could todays riders do that on that machinery? Probably if they grew up on it. Could those guys ride with todays riders if they grew up on todays machinery? I have no doubt they could.

I don't compare riders from different eras by absolute speed through whoops or how high and far they launch off of the jumps they had/have, I compare them by how well they preform against the competition they have at their time. So you have guys like Robert, DeCoster and a few others that if riding today would be right there with Villipoto and Stewart, not so sure they could have kept up with Carmichael though. I know Stewart and Reed never could outdoors. Although Stewart almost could indoors.

I also know I couldn't ride my son's 2001 CR250 as fast as I used to ride my 1972 CZ400.